The First Date
by D4rkHuntress
Summary: Alex Pierce finally thinks he might be able to ask former arch rival and ranger teammate Regina Trude out on a date, but things aren't always so easy especially with villains like Darkayon and Villatrex around.


Disclaimer: I do not own power rangers.

Information: This is a short story that takes place after the 21st chapter of my fanfic series Power Rangers: Overdrive. I do not know if this story will make the regular series, I think it will, but since it is so short I decided to post it here. Thanks for reading and feedback would be excellent.

**The First Date**

"Hey, Alex," Brian said after looking over his shoulder to see who had entered the engine room behind him. "What brings you here?"

"Just came to check in on things," Alex said casually as he walked around the room.

Brian gave the red ranger a dubious look. "You wouldn't know if something was out of place if I pointed it out to you."

"Should this light be blinking red?" Alex asked pointing to what Brian knew to be an indicator light on the opposite side of the engine to the blue ranger.

"No," Brian started to panic, but relaxed immediately when he realized if something were to be happening to the engine that would make that light blink red then he would surely know about it. Alex was either lying or there was a faulty line in the indicator somewhere. Brian walked over to where the red ranger was standing to check out the light, and sure enough it was blinking red. "Wonderful."

"You're forgiven," Alex mocked as he stepped out of the way to allow the blue ranger to work on the panel.

"Okay, so why did you really come in here?" Brian asked as he shut down the power to the paneling that led to the faulty indicator. He could tell Alex was stalling on something, but he couldn't imagine what.

"I wanted to talk to you about Reg," Alex admitted.

"Reg?" Brian huffed a laugh and grabbed an extracting tool he would use to tear the paneling off the wall it was mounted on. "What about her?"

"Well, you know her better than I do, or I think you do," Alex replied.

"Spit it out, Alex," Brian spoke as he popped the panel off the wall. Brian was getting a feeling he knew where this conversation was going. It wasn't like the red ranger to jump around a topic. Alex had always tried to keep his feelings for the black ranger hidden, but certain things had given the red ranger away over the months in which the rangers had been working together. Jealousy was Alex's greatest give away. For all the times he argued with Regina, the moment someone looked her way Alex's eyes would turn the deepest shade of green, so to speak.

"I'm thinking about asking her out," Alex finally admitted. "I just don't know how I should go about doing that with out getting a black eye."

"In your case," Brian started to say before pulling two wires apart that had been hidden behind the instrument panel. "I'd say your best bet is to stay clear."

"Thanks," Alex spoke sarcastically.

"Seriously, Alex," Brian stated while continuing to work on the engine indicator. "Reg has learned to lighten up a lot since I first met her, but I don't think she's ready to allow someone to ask her out yet, especially not you."

"Maybe," Alex said and walked closer to the exit of the engine room. "But I don't know. I think we've been getting along well lately."

"And all that can change in a matter of a simple question," Brian pointed out. Brian knew Regina well enough to know that she wasn't very secure when it came to the relationship department. It took effort on Brian's part just to get Regina to accept him as a friend.

"I know," Alex sounded frustrated. "I should just forget it. I guess it was just wishful thinking." The red ranger walked to the exit of the engine room and turned briefly to say, "Thanks anyway."

"No problem," Brian mumbled more to himself as the red ranger had already left earshot range.

"One more thing," Alex was suddenly at the doorway of the engine room again. Brian turned his head to the doorway before Alex continued. "Don't tell anyone."

"Don't tell anyone what?" Jake asked as he suddenly appeared behind Alex making the red ranger jump.

"Um," Alex said, he looked nervous. "Nothing." With that the red ranger walked away.

Brian shook his head and, once again, went back to work on the faulty indicator.

"What was that about?" Jake questioned.

"Nothing," Brian repeated the red ranger's words, but in a more convincing manner.

"Let me guess. Alex wants to ask Reg out and he was trying to get you to tell him something," Jake commented.

"You knew he liked her too?" Brian asked, but it didn't surprise him.

"I've been getting the impression," Jake said sounding like he wasn't exactly happy. "Thankfully Reg seems completely anonymous to it."

"So you think she would turn him down if he asked?" Brian questioned.

"Worse," Jake replied. "I think if he asks her they are going to be right where they were when we first became rangers, fighting every chance they get if not worse than that."

A spark jumped from a wire Brian just cut into and he had to fight back a curse. He didn't understand why it did that he had cut the power to it after all. As frustrating as fixing the indicator was, if Jake was right, there could be a lot worse things happen on board the Astromegaship.

* * *

"We need a plan to take out the rangers," Darkayon spoke to Villatrex. Darkayon seemed a bit spaced or possibly even a bit nervous to Villatrex. He had been that way since the night before. That was unsettling. Even though Darkayon hadn't seemed to lose focus of his goal, being in this state of mind could turn the tides. As if things were actually looking good for the villains in the first place. The rangers were tearing down everything that was thrown their way.

"I have been working on something with Epsilon," Villatrex spoke. "The project looks promising, but we need more time."

"Time is one thing we don't have," As Darkayon spoke he stood up from his chair and slammed a fist on his desk. "We must finish off the rangers and soon."

"You mustn't grow impatient," Villatrex warned. "Impatience causes errors."

"It doesn't seem like it matters whether we take our time or not," Darkayon fumed. "The rangers are winning time after time."

"The rangers can't win every time," Villatrex replied. "They are human, they will falter."

Darkayon didn't respond vocally, instead he fixed the villainess with a dark glare.

* * *

"Dang!" Brian yelled as he hit the floor for probably the ninth time since he started sparring with Regina. He rubbed the back of his head as he sat up. "You've been practicing."

"Taking those martial arts classes with Alex hasn't hurt," Regina said with a shrug and bent down to offer the blue ranger a hand.

"I see that," Brian stated and grabbed Regina's hand. He allowed a slight, mischievous grin to tug at the corner of his mouth before yanking the black ranger to the floor.

"You jerk," Regina teased after hitting the mat. She shoved the blue ranger away from her and started to get up. "Had enough for one day?"

"Yeah, I think so," Brian said and ran a hand through his sweat-moistened, black hair. Regina threw him a towel from the right side of the recreation room. "Thanks."

The black ranger walked back and sat down next to the blue ranger and took a drink of water from a bottle she was now holding.

"I think I might have to look into some of these classes you speak of," Brian said before wiping his face with the offered towel and then threw it around his neck.

"Might not be a bad idea," Regina said light heartedly. A moment of silence fell over the two, but finally Regina spoke again. "Actually, Brian, this may sound strange, but I'd kind of like to get your advice on something."

Brian shrugged, there seemed to be a lot of seeking advice from him over the last couple of days. "Shoot."

"Well, you know how I told you I didn't want any kind of relationships when we first met?" Regina started to say. Brian had to force himself not to tense up as he wondered where this conversation was headed.

"Yeah," Brian replied. "I thought you got over that."

"I have." Regina pointed out. "A little bit anyway."

"So what's the problem?" Brian asked.

"Well, there's a bit of a rumor going around," Regina started to say. "That someone might be wanting to ask me out."

"I thought you said you didn't want to lose focus on your racing," Brian recalled the conversation from months earlier. Regina hadn't found out about Alex somehow had she? Surely Jake hadn't said anything to her.

"I did," Regina admitted. "But this guy, well, he's on my team. So, I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I said yes if he does ask me out. He's also a nice guy, or I think he is anyway."

"So, what do you want my advice on?" Brian questioned. Was she _really_ talking about Alex? It was so clear that Alex liked her, but Brian never would have guessed the black ranger returned the feeling. Then again, maybe it wasn't so hard to believe.

"I'm not sure," Regina replied. "I guess I'd like to know if you think I should go for it or not?"

"If you feel like you want to give it a try," Brian said with a shrug. "Then I say go for it."

"Well," Regina said. "What should I say if he asks?"

Brian couldn't hold back laughing this time. "You really are clueless aren't you?"

Regina looked over at Brian like she was about to slap him, but her expression softened and she nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Just say yes and go from there," Brian suggested while giving Regina a look that jokingly said she was hopeless while he shook his head.

"Jerk," Regina said and shoved Brian again.

"I was just trying to help!" Brian exclaimed and threw up his hands in mocked frustration.

Regina shared the laugh, but her smile quickly faded. "I can't believe I'm so nervous about this. I can drive over two hundred miles an hour while being just inches away from a wall, but ask me out on a date and I'm a complete wreck."

"We all have our weaknesses, Reg," Brian said seriously this time. Regina really had come a long way since Brian had first met her. She was always so uptight, but now she could even joke about herself.

"Yeah," Regina replied sounding reflective. "Well, I'd better be getting ready to get to the track. Thanks, Brian."

"Anytime," Brian said as Regina jumped up to leave the room. As she walked to the door Alex walked in.

"Hey, Alex," Regina greeted the red ranger as she passed by him.

"Hey," Alex returned.

"Oh," Regina said and turned to face her racing teammate. "You are going to be at the track today, right?"

"I'll be there a half hour ahead of the time I'm suppose to be there," Alex said and raised his hands as if in defense.

Regina laughed slightly at the response. The racecar drivers seemed to have picked up a joke between them about the red ranger always being late for events. "That's fine, but I was actually just asking because I wanted to go over some line strategy with you if you ever happen to be free."

"Sounds good," Alex said. Regina seemed satisfied with the answer as she turned and left the room.

"Ask her," Brian said once the door was shut to the recreation room.

"Ask her?" Alex gave Brian a questioning look that soon soothed to one of realization, but quickly turned to one of accusation. "You told her?"

"No," Brian answered. "She told me."

Alex's eyes grew wide, "What?"

"She wanted my advice on something because she had heard some rumor of someone wanting to ask her out," Brian replied and stood up.

"Did she say who?" Alex asked quickly.

"All she said was it is some guy from her team," Brian answered.

"Great," Alex sounded sarcastic.

"And here I thought you would be happy," Brian said and shook his head as he walked over to the right side of the room to retrieve a bottle of water.

"Whoever is she was talking about couldn't of been me," Alex replied and then sighed. "Did she say whether she was going to say yes or turn him down? Wait, no, don't tell me."

"Okay," Brian said and shook his head again. At least the red and black rangers acting like this was better than them fighting all the time.

"Wait, you said she asked for your advice?" Alex asked. "What did you tell her? What did she ask?"

Brian sighed, now becoming a little irritated. He turned to face the red ranger and spoke before Alex could change his mind again. "She asked me what she should say when she was asked out and I told her, under the belief that the person was you, to say yes."

"You did what?" Alex looked offended and threw his hands up in the air. "Great."

"You've really lost your mind," Brian said and walked away.

* * *

"Hey, Alex," Regina greeted the red ranger with a bright smile as he walked into the their race team's private hauler.

"Hi," Alex replied and took a seat next to the black ranger at the small coffee table she was sitting at. Regina flashed him a look of concern.

"Are you okay?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, I just didn't get a lot of sleep," Alex lied and grabbed the paper Regina had sitting on the table in front of her in order to change the subject. "Are these the line plans?"

"You seemed fine earlier," Regina pointed out, ignoring Alex's question.

"I'm fine, Reg," Alex insisted, but managed to keep the harshness out of his tone. "Thanks for asking."

"Alright," Regina said and took the paper from Alex's hands. "Yes, these are a few of the lines I'm thinking will work the best at this track."

"You seem awfully chipper." Alex's curiosity was nagging at him. Who was it that wanted to ask Regina out? Had the guy already asked her out on a date?

"I think we have a good chance this weekend," Regina replied with a shrug. "I'm not that chipper."

Alex mocked a half laugh. And pointed out, "Almost Jake-like, chipper."

"Alright," Regina sighed. "You have to promise not to tell Jake, but I have a date for tonight."

Alex managed a weak smile. "Really? Who's the unlucky guy?"

Regina gave Alex a dark glare, but he could tell she knew he was kidding.

"You know Jeff, right?" Regina asked.

"The tire guy on your team?" Alex question in returned.

"Yeah, it's him," Regina answered. "Now, can we get on with these lines?"

"Sure," Alex replied. "And I hope you have a good time tonight."

Regina smiled slightly and nodded. "Thanks." The black ranger fixed her eyes on Alex as if to say 'stop changing the subject'. "Now, I was thinking if we are able to team up that this line would be the best to take."

Regina continued pointing out lines and suggesting strategies. Alex tried to listen in as best as he could, but he was hit with a nagging feeling that he would never have a chance to tell the girl how he really felt. He knew he had no one but himself to blame though. He should never have given into arguing with her in the past.

One thing that did get through to Alex was the sound of his communicator going off. He yanked the device off of his belt and spoke into it, "Go ahead, Alpha."

"Rangers, Villatrex is attacking Earth," Alpha informed.

"And I thought it was bad when Darkayon was the only one around," Alex muttered and stood up. "Looks like it's time to ranger up. Ready?"

"Re-

Regina stopped when the small door of the private hauler opened. Jake and Regina's team tire specialist stepped in.

"Um, never mind, I do have your phone number," Regina said to Alex as she replaced her morpher onto her belt and turned to face Jeff. "Hi, Jeff."

"Hey, Reg," the man eyed the pair curiously, but did not address the situation. "I just wanted to see if we were still on for tonight."

"Oh, yeah," Regina replied. If she was trying to act like she had to think about it she wasn't doing a good job of portraying it. "When and where are we meeting again?"

Jeff smiled, "Out side of the team's stall, five o'clock."

"Right," Regina replied. "I'll be there."

"Great," Jeff said and started to step back out of the trailer. "See you soon."

"Soon?" Regina questioned when the door of the trailer shut. She lifted her left arm to look at her watch. "Five is only a half hour from now!"

"Don't worry, Reg," Alex tried to help his friend. It hurt him to do so, but he saw how happy Regina seemed to be, he didn't want the date ruined for her. "We'll take Villatrex down in record time."

Regina smile briefly, but quickly raised her morpher again and gave Alex a nod. "Ready."

"Overdrive Accelerate!"

* * *

"Villatrex!" Regina yelled when the rangers showed up in large city where the dark villainess was attacking random citizens.

"Ah, rangers," Villatrex cooed. "Long time no see."

"Not long enough," Brian yelled.

"You make a girl feel so unwelcome." Villatrex commented acting hurt.

"Only the ones who aren't welcome!" Brian returned.

"You talk a big game, blue boy," Villatrex spoke harshly.

"Are you going to stand there and taunt us all day or are you going to actually try to fight us sometime?" Alex tried to provoke the villainess. He had made a promise to his teammate and he was planning on keeping it.

"If you insist on getting this battle started," Villatrex said and grabbed the lance off of her back. "Cogatrons!"

At the command a large army of Cogatrons formed around the villainess.

"Oh, I am so tired of these guys," Regina blurted out and called on her Drive Daggers.

"That makes two of us," Shawn said from Alex's right.

Alex joined his teammates in battling the robot foot soldiers. For Regina's sake the red ranger did his best to take out as many of the weak henchmen as he could in the shortest amount of time as he could.

"Villatrex!" Alex yelled when he broke free of the pack of Cogatrons. He jumped at the villainess with his Drive Saber held high above his head and brought it down as hard as he could. Villatrex was able to get her lance up in time to block the attack and quickly shoved the saber away from her and swung her weapon around to hit the red ranger at his midsection.

"Alex!" Kiana's voice rose above the sound of metal clanging. "Take some of this, Villatrex!"

Sounds of small explosions followed the pink ranger's threats as she fired her Drive Bow at the villainess. Alex looked up in time to see at least two of Kiana's attacks were deflected back at her. She took one hit, but rolled away from the second one and came to kneel next to Alex.

"You okay?" Alex asked Kiana.

"Fine," Kiana said with a nod. "Go, I'll cover."

With the command Alex began running toward Villatrex while Kiana focused her fire on the villainess to distract her. When Alex came with in five feet of Villatrex he stopped short as suddenly the villainess surrounded him.

"What the?" Alex started to say before getting hit from all sides. He felt his strength leave him and he hit the ground.

"Alex!" Kiana's voice called, but soon let out a cry of her own as if she had been attacked.

Alex managed to get back to his feet again. He turned to see all of his teammates were picking themselves up off the ground. Villatrex's laughter echoed around them.

"What just happened?" Brian asked as the rangers regrouped.

"Your defeat!" Villatrex yelled and the rangers were once again being pummeled from all sides. The final hit scattered them as they fell to the ground.

"I can't believe this," Brian yelled and punched the cement he was lying on.

"That's what you get for treating a girl unkindly," Villatrex mocked and laughed once again.

"Says the one working for Darkayon," Regina mumbled.

"Silence!" Villatrex pelted the rangers with another series of blasts.

"We have to stop this," Jake pointed the comment at Alex. The red ranger was doing what he could to think up a plan, but how could you fight something you couldn't see?

"Split up," Alex commanded and picked himself up off the ground and ran. He grabbed his morpher and held it to his helmet, "Alpha, we could use some back up down here!"

"Stormblaster and Lightning Cruiser are on their way!" Alpha announced and with in moments Alex could hear the roar of the two vehicles' engines.

"Nice try," Villatrex stated and the next thing Alex knew he was reeling in pain as explosions barraged him. The sound of squealing tires suggested that Stormblaster and Lightning Cruiser just met the same fate.

"Alpha," Shawn's voice was crisp. "Send the zords."

Alex didn't like silver ranger taking the initiative to make the call to bring the zords in, but he couldn't deny the idea as being a good one. The Astro Megazord and the Drive Max Megazord descended from space while Alex got himself back onto his feet, for what he hoped to be the last time in this fight. He used his morpher to transport aboard the Astro Megazord, Jake and Regina joined him while Shawn, Brian, and Kiana manned the Drive Max Megazord.

"Reg," Alex said turning to the black ranger who currently sat where the blue ranger would normally be. "You can go."

"Are you sure?" Regina asked.

"Go?" Jake yelled. "We're in the middle of a battle!"

The Megazord raddled as it was hit with whatever Villatrex was throwing at the rangers before, but in comparison the zord was able to handle the attack a lot better than the rangers could.

"I think we have this battle under control now," Alex said to Jake and turned to Regina again. "Jake and I can handle the Megazord."

"Thanks, Alex," Regina said and stood up. She laid a hand on the red ranger's shoulder before continuing. "I owe you one."

"I'll be sure to hold you to that," Alex said and gave the girl a thumb's up. "Now get going."

"Mind telling me what that is about?" Jake asked as the Megazord began quivering again. Regina had already told Alex not to tell Jake about her date. Alex had never promised not to, but he didn't want to betray Regina's trust either.

"Maybe after we defeat Villatrex," Alex replied and began working the controls to the Astro Megazord.

"Well, it's about time you decided to move," Shawn's voice came over the zord's intercom. "We were beginning to think the zord was in need of a good oiling or something."

"We're good to go here," Alex replied. Thanks to promising Regina he would try to be nicer to Shawn the comment was the only one Alex could make.

"Well then," Shawn started to say. "Let's squash some bad guy!"

"We have to find out how Villatrex is managing to be so many places at one time," Alex said.

"You rangers are cowards!" Villatrex's voice somehow managed to reach the rangers in the cockpit of their zord. Alex looked down to see a sensor warning on his panel, something big had just appeared behind the zord.

"Look out!" Shawn's voice came back over the intercom and in the time it took Alex to turn the Astro Megazord around the Drive Max had already engaged the ten story tall Villatrex.

"Thanks, Shawn," the words were bitter for Alex to say. The red ranger gripped the controls of the Megazord tighter as he moved to join the Drive Max in battle.

"There!" Jake yelled and pointed at the view screen. "Around her neck. That's what she's using to project herself."

Around the villainess' neck hung a small crystal pendant. It didn't look like much to Alex, but Jake was the one with the scanning tools.

"Give me the blaster," Alex said and began backing the Megazord away from the fight.

"You could hit the Drive Max," Jake pointed out.

"I know," Alex replied. "But the Drive Max can take a beating, I doubt that crystal can."

"Says the one who doesn't have to repair it," Jake grumbled but activated the blaster anyway.

Alex took aim with the weapon and fired it. The first shot hit the villainess on her left armored shoulder. It did little more than grab her attention. She tried to turn away from the Drive Max.

"Not so fast," Shawn's voice said while the Drive Max grabbed onto Villatrex's right arm to prevent her from walking further towards the Astro Megazord. The move left the crystal wide open for Alex to shoot.

"Now!" Jake yelled from the left side of the cockpit.

"Firing," Alex said as he pulled the trigger. Several shots fired away, two missed, but the third hit the crystal and shattered it.

"No!" Villatrex screamed. She jerked her right arm free of the Drive Max and kicked the zord away from her. "We will meet another day, rangers."

With that the villainess was gone.

"And she calls us cowards," Brian's voice came over the intercom for the first time. "Go figure."

"I think we're going to have a talk about tactics," Jake was saying to Alex when the rangers were back on board the transformed Astromegaship.

"I never touched the Drive Max," Alex said in defense. "And if I did, I promise I will scrub the scorch marks off of it, because I can almost guarantee that's all the damage it would have taken."

"Almost," Jake mumbled as he walked away. Alex shook his head. Jake, even for as happy-go-lucky as he was, he didn't like his machines damaged and he would let you know it too. At least he didn't bring up letting Regina leave the battle early.

"We won out the day, that's what matters," Shawn stated.

"Yeah," Alex agreed absently before leaving the room. He decided to transport back to the racetrack. The place was silent, at least in comparison to what it had been the last time Alex was there. The daylight was about to end soon and most of the people had left the infield and the garage area, but there were a few people standing around talking.

Alex slipped into the garage by means of a stall door that had been left open. He made his way past the multi-colored cars until he found his own car where is sat to the right of Regina's dark colored racecar. Alex thought back to the weekend after the two had become rangers. The weekend before had ended early for both of them due to a wreck that one of the two may or may not have been responsible for. To add to the tension, or so it seemed, the two teams had been parked next to each other in the garage the following weekend. Alex had been frustrated with Regina at the time. It was hard not to be frustrated with her back in those days. She always managed to blame Alex for something, and never passed up an opportunity to argue with him. Still, it was the fire in her that was appealing. Regina knew what she wanted and she fought hard for it. Alex respected that.

The red ranger walked around his racecar, he knew better than to touch it, both for the fact that he might be accused of cheating due to working on his car after the cut-ff hour and also because his crew chief could be as fickle about Alex touching his car as Jake was with Regina touching hers.

"Alex?" a voice came from behind the red ranger, he turned to face Regina who was standing at the back of her car with her arms crossed in front of her as if she were cold. "What are you doing here?"

"I could say the same about you," Alex said instead of answering the question. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date?"

"I was," Regina said and looked away.

"What happened?" Alex questioned. He knew it wasn't any of his business, but he hadn't meant to ask the question in order to pry.

"He cancelled," Regina said with a nod of her head, she swallowed visibly before continuing. "Apparently he got a phone call from his ex-girlfriend that he broke up with over six months ago about the same time we were suppose to meet. I guess she wanted to try to make amends. When Jeff showed up a half hour late he told me everything, apologized, and said he didn't think we should go out, which I understand his reasoning for canceling."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Alex said, he meant it, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel a bit relieved.

"It's no big deal," Regina said with a shrug and leaned up against a wall. "So judging by the fact that you are here in one piece I guess you guys won."

"Yeah," Alex replied. "I guess you could say thanks to Shawn."

Regina managed a slight smile and nodded, but she looked slightly dazed. Silence had fallen between the two for a moment when Alex heard a rumbling sound from Regina's direction.

"Sorry," Regina said and shook her head. "I've hardly eaten anything all day."

Alex discreetly check his back pocket where he thought he remembered placing money earlier, it was still there.

"Well," Alex said, trying to keep his nerves from getting the best of him. "I only have about ten bucks on me, but do you want to go grab something to eat?"

Regina smiled faintly then gave Alex a dubious look, "Ten bucks?"

"Alright, so it wouldn't buy more than fast food," Alex said with a shrug. "But even that is probably better than what you would get from the synthetron."

"Yeah, I guess," Regina said, but still didn't look like she was ready to budge.

"It'll also give us a chance to go over those lines," Alex tried.

"True," Regina said and finally shrugged herself away from the wall. "You still have that old truck?"

"Yep," Alex said and began leading the way out of the garage. "Same old clunker, but I promise, it's running well at the moment."

An hour later Regina and Alex were sitting in the bed of the red ranger's truck, which was parked next to a lake that was located near the racetrack.

"Hopefully we can get decent pit boxes," Regina was saying. "I don't think it is best if we pit next to each other though." She point to a few of the pit boxes that were printed on the paper she was holding. "If you guys can get any of these when you get a choice those are the best places to get in and out of."

"Sounds good," Alex replied. The two had already gone over the best lines on the track they were just tying up a few loose ends on their strategies.

"The sunset is beautiful here," Regina said and Alex realized the black ranger had stopped looking at the paper and was now taking in the view of the lake. Indeed the sight was spectacular. The multiple colors that made up the sunset reflected in the water.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "This place reminds me of a lake my grandparents used to take me to."

"You were close to them, weren't you?" Regina asked, but kept her gaze on the lake.

"I only got to visit them in the summer time, but yeah, I miss them a lot," Alex answered. "How did you know?"

"I remember you said this truck belonged to your grandfather," Regina said. Alex remembered then. Alex had told Regina about the truck when she was accusing him of being a rich kid and, out of frustration, told her how he didn't own a dime to his name. It seemed like a long time ago, but really it wasn't.

"It did," Alex replied. "He took really good care of it, I wish I could do the same."

"Well, maybe Jake can give you a few pointers," Regina said with a slight smile.

"Yeah, after he cools off maybe," Alex said, this finally drew Regina's attention away from the sunset. She looked at Alex and raised an eyebrow.

"What did you do?" Regina accused.

"Nothing really," Alex said and tried to wave the comment away. "He got all worried when I shot at Villatrex when the Drive Max standing next to it, not in the way like he might want to claim. I didn't hit it, but what he should be upset about is Stormblaster and Lightning Cruiser. I don't now what kind of shape they are in, but I'm sure Jake will have to fix something on them."

"That should help calm him down though," Regina stated and looked back to the lake.

Regina's life had been dedicated to racing. She barely did anything that wasn't in some way related to racing. In fact being a ranger might be the only thing Alex knew of that Regina did that wasn't in relation to racing. The black ranger had dressed up slightly for the night, or dressed up for her standards anyway. Her brown hair, unlike the mess of tangles it was normally in, was lying neatly around her face and fell gracefully behind her back. The dark eyeliner she wore highlighted her brown eyes. Being a cool night she wore a black pull over sweater on top of a white tank top, she also wore a simple pair of jeans. Regina could have been wearing what she had been earlier with her hair a mess from wearing her helmet all day and she still would have been attractive, or so Alex thought.

"Something wrong?" Regina asked and looked over at the red ranger. She must have realized Alex's stare.

"No, sorry, I guess I'm still a little out of it," Alex said and turned to look at the lake again. The sun was almost set now making the trees it hid behind look like black masses.

The two sat in silence until the sun had completely set and the stars had become visible above them.

"Maybe we should get back to the ship," Regina suggested.

"That's probably not a bad idea," Alex said.

* * *

"Thanks for the food," Regina said to Alex once they were back on board the Astromegaship.

"Not a problem," Alex replied, he felt his nerves getting the best of him again.

"I hate to admit it," Regina started to say. "But I also had a nice time, so thanks."

"Only you would have a good time going over race strategies all night," Alex joked.

"Well, the nice scenery and fresh air helped a little too." Regina smirked with the comment.

"Maybe we can do it again sometime," Alex meant the comment to sound like a joke, but in reality he was, in a way, testing the water so to speak.

Regina gave Alex a curious look for a second then crossed her arms. "What do you mean, Alex?"

The harshness in her tone almost caused Alex's heart to leap from his chest. The last thing he wanted to do was to be back where the two were when they first became rangers. If Regina thought he was trying to overstep their friendship now their relationship could be worse off than it ever had been before. The other rangers would probably want to kill Alex if that was the case as well. They had all been relieved when the two had finally called a truce to their fighting.

"Nothing," Alex tried to lie, but he knew he had failed at making it sound convincing.

Regina held strong for a few seconds, but something flickered across her eyes and she looked down at the floor and sighed.

"Really, Reg," Alex said, this time it was more convincing because he meant it this time. "I meant nothing by it."

"Yes you did," Regina said softly.

Alex blew out a breath slowly as he tried to think of something to say. "Okay, I did, but I mean I don't," Alex tried to come up with the words, but wasn't having any luck.

"You've wanted to say something since the moment we met," Regina accused when she looked up again. Alex wanted to tell her she was being a little full of herself if she was saying that, but he couldn't deny what she said. Regina spoke again as if answering the unspoken question he had in his mind, "It's always been written in your eyes." The black ranger seemed to be struggling with her own words as she looked somewhere behind Alex. "Even when we would argue there was a look there that said you didn't really want to be arguing. Well, there were times it wasn't, but most of the it was." Alex thought he saw a hint of the girl's eyes glassing over. "It was something I've never even seen from my own parents, not in many years anyway." Regina gave a half shrug she almost looked terrified, "I've always been afraid of that look, I-I don't know how to react to it."

"I understand," Alex said. He knew what Regina's parents were like he could see how that might affect the girl. "Well, I think I do anyway."

"That makes one of us then," Regina stated and looked away once again. "I'm sorry, Alex."

"It's fine, Reg," Alex said, he now felt foolish for being so nervous to say anything, but that gave him an idea. "To tell you the truth, and you already know this, or it seems like you do, I've been terrified to say anything to you since we met."

That brought a smile to Regina's face. She shook her head and looked up at Alex. "You know what? The first _date_ wasn't so bad."

"Meaning?" Alex asked while raising an eyebrow.

"I might take you up on the offer sometime," Regina replied, her smile softened. She stepped closer to Alex and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Alex didn't make a move to reciprocate the hug. The black ranger leaned back, but didn't let go of her teammate. "Thanks, Alex."

"For?" Alex asked while he tried to search Regina's face for an answer.

Regina shrugged. "A lot of things, but let's go with what you tried to do and did for me today."

When Alex's eyes finally met Regina's there was a sparkle in them that he had never seen before, it was close to the sparkle she had when she talked about racing, but it was different somehow. Alex smile slightly and then realized that Regina was leaning closer to him. He lifted his hands to place them on her sides as she lifted herself up to reach his height.

"Alex!" Alpha's voice came from down the corridor just before the two rangers' lips touched.

"Alex?" Jake's sharp tone came from a further distance away.

"Oops," Alpha said.

Alex and Regina stepped away from each other quickly just before Jake stepped around the corridor. The green ranger walked right up to Alex and pointed a finger at him. "I want you to know that Kiana and I had to replace both the weapons mounted on Stormblaster and Lightning Cruiser tonight along with some wiring on the Drive Max which may or may not of been scorched by your reckless call to shoot at it."

"Dually noted," Alex said to Jake, but exchanged a nervous glance with Regina whose face was flushed.

"Good," Jake replied in a stern voice that sounded like a mocked version of what it should have been had it come from someone else. He looked over at Regina quickly, and took a double take of the two rangers. He must have figured out what he had just interrupted as he started to act flustered. "Um, in fact, I'd better go make sure Kiana soldered that that last inverter correctly."

The green ranger made a quick exit with Alpha following nearly at his heels. Regina and Alex looked at each other nervously before breaking out into a light laughter.

"That's going to be a fun conversation," Regina said as if dreading the future while she smiled and shook her head.

"I would say it could have been worse," Alex said with a laugh.

"But it couldn't," Regina agreed. Of all the people to walk around that bend it had to be Jake.

"At least you won't have to be watching your back," Alex stated. "In fact I think I'd better lock my door tonight."

"Oh, Jake isn't that bad," Regina replied.

"Don't let the nice act fool you. You didn't see the look Jake gave when he thought Brian was interested in you," Alex disagreed.

"I guess I missed that," Regina said and shrugged. "Jake is like an older brother to me."

"Exactly," Alex said. Regina walked over and patted Alex on the back.

"See you at the track tomorrow," the girl said as she walked away. Regina turned her head around to give Alex a wink, "Maybe."

"Very funny," Alex responded. Alex couldn't recall a time he had ever been more embarrassed, but judging off of Regina's reaction earlier neither had she.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Feedback is welcome! And remember you can catch up on all the Overdrive rangers and villains in the 'Power Rangers: Overdrive' series located on Power Ranger Empire and now on Star Points Rangercast.


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